counterproductive
Works against itself
Counterproductive describes actions that work against their intended purpose—efforts that make things worse rather than better.
Punishing a child for asking questions might be counterproductive if you want them to be curious.
Skipping sleep to study more is often counterproductive.
The word implies good intentions undermined by poor strategy.
Causing harm or damage
- damagingCausing loss or injury
- adverseHarmful or opposed
- destructiveCausing severe harm
- underminingWeakening by covert means
sabotaging · disadvantageous · injurious · debilitating · corrosive · erosive · toxic · poisonous
Self-returning thrown weapon
- backfireYield unintended consequences
- reboundReturn after deflection
- blowbackUnintended negative consequences
- misfireFailure to discharge
self-defeating · self-sabotage · unintended consequences · pyrrhic · countereffect · own goal · shooting oneself in the foot
Lacking power to achieve
- uselessWithout practical value
- futileIncapable of producing results
- pointlessLacking any purpose
- fruitlessProducing no useful outcome
unavailing · spinning wheels · exercise in futility · Sisyphean · going nowhere · diminishing returns · zero-sum
Something blocking the way
- impedimentThing that obstructs progress
- barrierObstruction preventing passage
- obstructionSomething blocking the way
- hindranceBarrier to progress
stumbling block · bottleneck · roadblock · snag · interference · thwarting · blocking · hampering
detrimental
Causing harm or damage
- damagingCausing loss or injury
- adverseHarmful or opposed
- destructiveCausing severe harm
undermining · sabotaging · disadvantageous · injurious · debilitating · corrosive · erosive · toxic · poisonous · worsening
boomerang
Self-returning thrown weapon
- backfireYield unintended consequences
- reboundReturn after deflection
- blowbackUnintended negative consequences
misfire · self-defeating · self-sabotage · unintended consequences · pyrrhic · countereffect · own goal · shooting oneself in the foot
ineffective
Lacking power to achieve
fruitless · unavailing · spinning wheels · exercise in futility · Sisyphean · going nowhere · diminishing returns · zero-sum
obstacle
Something blocking the way
- impedimentThing that obstructs progress
- barrierObstruction preventing passage
- obstructionSomething blocking the way
hindrance · stumbling block · bottleneck · roadblock · snag · interference · thwarting · blocking · hampering · stalling
- counterkitchen counter, countertop, checkout counter, sales counter, counterattack
- contradictionsparadox, oxymoron, contradiction, paradoxes, oxymorons
counterproductiveproductive
Generating useful output
effective · efficient · efficacious · successful · fruitful
counterproductivebeneficial
Producing good results
helpful · advantageous · profitable · worthwhile · valuable
produce, product, production, producer, productive, producing, productivity, unproductive, reproduce